Refrigerator



May 16, 1939. I w. D. COLLINS REFRIGERATOR Original Filed Fb. 23, 1935 8Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. 49 ,Co m/L' AaATTORNEY.

REFRIGERATOR Original Filed Feb. 23, 1935 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y 7 Na 3/INVENTOR May 16, 1939. w. D. COLLINS REFRIGERATOR Original Filed Feb.23, 1955 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

J49 Me ,Az/L ATTORNEY.

W. D. COLLINS REFRIGERATOR May 16, 1939.

Original Filed Feb. 23, 1935 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. 4%. *0, C BY,/lATToRNEY.

May 16, 1939. w. D. COLLINS {REFRIGERATOR 8 Sheets-Sheet 7 OriginalFiled Feb. 23, 1935 INVENTOR. I

' Q/efaflcwa J24 ATTORNEY.

May 16, 1939. w n co s 2,158,274

REFRIGERATOR Original Filed Feb. 23, 1935 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 l l I IINVENTOR.

W dgcream Patented May 16, 1939 UNITED STATES REFRIGERATOR William D.Collins, Evansville, Ind., asslgnor to Servel, Inc., New York, N. Y., acorporation of Delaware Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 7,733Renewed October 12, 1938 4 Claims.

My invention relates to refrigerators and has for an object theprovision of a new and improved refrigerator cabinet which is readilyfabricated, as fully set forth in the following description andaccompanying drawings forming part of this specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator cabinet embodying myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of a frame for the cabinet shown in Fig. 1;

Fig, 3 is a front view of the frame; Fig. 4 is a top plan view of theframe; Fig. 5' isan enlarged view'of the lower left hand corner of theframe base in Fig. 3;

Fig, 6 is an enlarged view of the*upper right hand corner of the framebase in Fig. 3; 1

Fig.7 is a perspective view of a refrigerator storage compartmentassembly; I

Fig. 8 is a detail section taken on line 8-8 .20 in Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a front view of a front panel assembly for the refrigerator;

Fig. 10 is a side view of the front panel; Fig. 11 is a top view of thefront panel; Fig.12 is an elevational view of a side for therefrigerator;

Fig. 13 is an end view of the side panel; Fig. 14 is a top view of theside panel; Fig. 15 is a plan view of a top for the refrig- 39 erator;

Fig. 16 is a side view of the refrigerator top; Fig. 17 is a front viewof the refrigerator top;

and

Fig. 18 is a detail section taken on line l8--l8 inFig. 1. "1* 7Referring to the drawings, 1 have shown in Fig. 1 a refrigeratorcabinetv Ill having a thermally insulated storage compartment which isaccessible by meansofa door ii, and a lower 40 apparatus compartmentwhich is accessible -by means of a removable closure [2. The structureof this cabinet and theprocess of fabrication will be more clearlyapparent from the further 50 The bottom of the frame is formed'by fourgenerally channel-shaped members welded together at their ends. In Fig.2 may be seen the outline of the front cross member l3 and the rearcross member it. 'The frontand rear members l3 and-I4 are connected byside members l5 and panel I6 (Figs. 2 and 3). At the front corners ofthe bottom of the frame are two upright members I! and I8. These membersare substantially Z-shaped. The joint in the lower left hand of Fig. 3is shown enlarged in Fig. 5. At the rear 5 corners of the bottom of theframe are connected upright members I!) and 20 which are alsochannel-shaped as may be seen in the top view in Fig. 4. Near the top ofthe rear upright members l9 and 28 are secured forwardly projecting armmembers 2| and 22. The upper ends of the rear uprights l9 and 20 areconnected by an .angle iron cross-bar 23. Between the rear frame uparights 19 and 28, at the level of the upper ends of the front frameuprights I! and I8, is connected a cross-bar 24 having a semi-circularoffset 25. Between the upper ends of the front frame uprights l1 and I8and the cross-bar 2a is mounted a horizontal sheet 26 having asemicircular portion' 21 cut out at the rear edge to correspond with thesemi-circular offset 25 in .the cross-bar 24. The front of the sheet 26is formed as a step 28. The sheet 26 is formed with a downturned flange29 along the front edge and downturned flanges 38 along the side edges.In Fig. 6 is shown an enlarged view of the joint between the sheet 26and the front frame upright l8. At each corner of the bottom of theframe are secured plates 3i. These plates may be referred to as basemounting plates and are for the purpose of securing the legs of the base32 of the refrigerator, shown in Fig. 1.

Referring now to Figs. 7 and 8, I have shown a refrigerator storagecompartment which may be separately formed as a unit, for instance, asgenerally disclosed in my Patent No. 1,878,111. The compartment isformed by a substantially rectangular casing 33, generally referred toas a liner. The liner 33'is preferably heavily porcelained on theinterior, as well known, to .provide sanitary walls for the storagecompartment. The edge of the liner 33 is secured within a substantiallyrectangular wooden frame 34. Thermal insulation material 35 in the formof substantially rectangular slabs is secured around the outside of theliner 33, for instance, by thin straps or bands 36. It will beunderstood that any suitable means may be employed for securing theinsulation in place around the liner. In the sectional view of thestorage compartment assembly as shown in Fig. 8, there may be seen whatis referred to as a window. This is an opening 31 through the rear wallof the liner 33 and insulation 35 to permit insertion of a coolingelement into the storage compartment tion 35 is indented to form asemi-circular groove 38 which receives a portion of a refrigerationapparatus, namely, a gas heat exchanger of a refrigeration apparatus ofthe pressure equalized type.

The next step in the process of fabricating the cabinet is to mount thestorage compartment assembly, just described, in position on thepreviously described frame. The position of the storage compartmentassembly on the frame is 1 indicated in dotted outline in Fig. 2. Thelower edge of the storage compartment frame is formed with a step 39(Fig. '1) which fits the step 28 )f the steel frame. This permitsaccurate loca- ;ion of the storage compartment assembly on the frame.The semi-circular offset 25 in the crossbar 24 and the semi-circularopening 21 in the rear edge of the sheet 216 are aligned with thesemi-circular groove 38 in the insulation material at the back of thestorage compartment assembly. The forward ends of the arms 2| and 2'2 atthe top of the steel frame are secured to the top of the wooden frame:34 of the storage compartment.

In Figs. 9, 10 and 11 is shown what is referred to as the front panel 40for the refrigerator cabinet. The panel 40 comprises two vertical sidemembers 4| and 42 and a top cross member 43 which are welded togetherand form a substantially inverted U-shaped panel. The front panel 46 isturned rearwardly around its periphery and is formed with a step sothat, after the panel has been coated with a desired material as, forinstance, porcelain, it has the appearance indicated in Fig. 1. Theperiphery of the front panel 40 is I turned inwardly to form a flange44. The flange 44 is provided with tabs 45 along each side of the panel.The front panel 40 is placed against the front of the previouslydescribed frame and storage compartment assembly and secured in place byfastening the tabs 45 to the wooden frame 34 around the storagecompartment door opening and the front frame uprights l1 and 16.

In Figs. 12, 13, and 14 is shown a side panel 46 for the refrigerator.The side panels 46 are coated similarly to the front panel 40 as, forinstance, with porcelain. The bottom and rear edges of the side panels46 are flanged inwardly and the forward and top edges of the side panelsare provided with L-shaped flanges 41 and 46 respectively. The L-shapedflange 41 on the forward edge of the side panels 46 is provided with aplurality of notches 48 which are spaced apart the same distances as thetabs 46 on the front panel 46. The side panels 46 are placed in positionon the sides of the refrigerator cabinet, as thus far assembled, byinserting the L-shaped flange 41 ,on the forward edge back of the flange44 of the front panel 46, the tabs 46 on the front panel 46 extendinginto the notches 49 and beneath the L-shaped flange 41 on the forwardedge of the side panels 46. The inturned flange at the rear of thepanels 46 is secured to the rear frame uprights Ill and 26. The forwardedges of the side panels 46 are thus locked beneath the edge of thefront panel 46 and require no other fastening means. time, the sidepanels 46 conceal the tabs 45 on the front panel so that no fasteningmeans are externally visible. The assembled relation, just described, ofthe front panel 40 and the side panels 46 may be better understood uponreference to Fig. 18 showing a detail section of a completed At the samerefrigerator cabinet. The section in Fig. 18 is taken substantially online l8l6 in Fig. 1.

In Figs. 15, 16, and 1'1 is shown a top 50 for the refrigerator. The topis substantially flat with downwardly rolled sides. The side edges ofthe top panel 56 are flanged inwardly and the forward edge is providedwith an L-shaped flange 6| similar to the flange 41 on the side panels46 except that the flange is continuous, there being no tabs along thetop edge of the front panel 40. The top panel 50 is placedin position onthe top of the refrigerator by inserting the L-shaped flange 5| beneaththe flange 44 along the top edge of the front panel 40, and lowering thesides onto the top edges of the side panels 46 to lock the L-shapedflanges 48 on the side panels.

The rear edge of the top panel 50 overlies the space between the tworear frame uprights l6 and 20 and, as may be seen in Fig. 15, isprovided with a recess 52. This recess permits air to flow upwardlythrough the space between the frame uprights l9 and 20 and out at thetop of the refrigerator. A ledge 53 around the recess 52,is provided tosupport a suitable screen or grille, not shown. In order to prevent airfrom circulating rapidly beneath the top panel 50, a sheet metal plate54, referred to as an air deflector, is mounted above the top cross-bar23 at the top of the rear frame uprights l9 and 26 (Fi 2).

It will be understood that various changes may be made within the scopeof my invention which, therefore, is not limited to that which is shownin the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicatedin the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerator cabinet comprising a frame and a storagecompartment unit supported on said frame and'including a generallyrectangular liner open at the front, a door-frame around the lineropening, and thermal insulation materialaround the liner, a sheet metalcasing comprising a front panel forming the side and top front cornersof the cabinet and having inward flanges around its edges, the inwardflanges being secured to said door-frame and formed to provide recesses,side panels having inward L- shaped flanges along their forward and topedges, said L-shaped flanges along the forward edges passing into saidrecesses provided in the front panel and, being locked beneath theflanged edge of said front panel, and a top panel forming the topsidecorners of the cabinet and having an inward L-shaped flange along itsforward edge similarly locked beneath the upper flanged edge of saidfront panel and being inwardly flanged along its side edges to lock theL-shaped flanges on the upper edges of said side panels.

2. In a refrigerator cabinet including a frame and a thermally insulatedstorage compartment supported on said frame, a sheet metal casingcomprising a front panel forming the side and top front edges of thecabinet and having inward flanges around its edges and formed to providerecesses, structure to which the inward flanges are secured, side panelshaving inward L-shaped flanges along their forward and top edges, saidL-shaped flanges along the forward edges entering said recesses providedby the front panel and being locked beneath the flanged edge of saidfront panel, and a top panel forming the top side edges of the cabinetand having an inturned L-shaped flange along its forward edge similarlylocked beneath the flanged edge of said front panel and being inwardlyflanged along its -side edges to lock the L-shaped flanges on the upperedges of said side panels.

3. In a refrigerator cabinet, a front panel of sheet metal forming theside and top front. edges of the cabinet and having inward flangesaround its edges and formed to provide recesses, side --panels havinginward L-shaped flanges along their'forward and top edges, and a toppanel forming the upper sideedges of the cabinet and having an inwardL-shaped flange at its forward edge and being inwardly flanged at itsside edges, said flanges onthe' top and side panels passing into saidrecesses provided by the front panel and serving to lock, the forwardedges of the said top and side panels beneath the edge of said frontpanel ,and lock the top edges of said side panels beneath the side edgesof said top panel.

4. In a refrigerator cabinet comprising a steel frame and asubstantially rectangular storage compartment unit supported on saidframe and comprising a rectangular liner open at the front, insulationmaterial around the liner, and a wooden frame around the open front ofthe liner, an outer casing comprising a front panel forming the side andtop front corners of the cabinet and peripherally flanged inwardly, tabsformed integrally with said front panel and secured to the sides of saidwooden frame, side panels having inward L-shaped flanges along theirforward and top edges, said L-shaped flanges along the forward edgesbeing locked beneath the flanged edge of said front panel, and a toppanel forming the top side corners of the cabinet and having an inwardL-shaped flange along its forward edge locked beneath the upper flangededge of said front panel and being inwardly flanged along 4 its sideedges to lock the L-shaped flanges on the upper edges of said sidepanels.

